a/c units

[ERobbins]

Any pros or cons of a window unit over a roof top or portable unit?
I have a 24ft convertion with a worn out roof top unit, But I have found those things are exspencive.

[pete42]

While they are expensive they work very well as you know,
when you say worn out what's wrong bad compressor, bad motor, low on feron?
I used a window AC unit in a trailer I use to own and it worked very well
I only had one worry if the compressor would stand the bounching around,
it lasted on a trip to california and back from Ohio,
so I would not heasitate to install one again.
my trailer wasn't a 24 footer just a small canned ham type.

pete

[b.bodemer]

My trailer is only half the length of yours. For my 12' trailer I used a 6500BTU window a/c on a slider through a cargo door. The nice thing about this set up is that it's easy to remove and store in the garage during spring and fall camping.

http://cttraveltrailer.blogspot.com/201 ... alled.html

Barb

[Martiangod]

as you said, rooftop expensive, you can pick up window shakers cheap.
Rooftop Aero drag, window shaker...none
Rooftop, takes up no interior space...window shaker does
Rooftop the noise is up there when outside trailer, window shaker its a ground level.
Whats wrong with your AC, may just need a new set of capacitors, not expensive

[ERobbins]

It acts like it is low on freon for the first thing, The second is after it cycles off it draws alot of amps to restart the compresor, some time even pops the breaker.
I havent had a professonal look at it yet, but I do know it does not have any recharge ports to recharge it.

[Martiangod]

they all need a rest, to unload the compressor after a run. If restarted too fast, breaker reset is inevitable
Does it cool at all?
May be something as simple as cleaning both sets of fins also on the outside fins, make sure they are "open", not flattened out, if flattened they may need combed out with a hair comb
and inside if has foam filter, make sure its clean

[8ball_99]

You can get a 13k roof AC for around 500. Same size window unit is probably around 200. so yeah there is a price difference. But the roof unit looks so much better and you don't need to cut a hole through the wall of your trailer. If you have barn doors and you want to put a false wall in the rear a window ac isnt' so bad.. Cutting a hole in the front and having a shaker unit hanging out looks bad and just gives your trailer a place to leak..

If its low on freon it has a leak.. Its probably not worth having it repaired inless you have a buddy that works in HVAC.. Most anyplace will charge you just to look at it. Even something minor will probably cost you a 100-200 bucks. If a new unit was 2500 ok,, But when you can get a brand new one for 500 its just not worth it.. Same reason why people don't repair TVs, dishwashers, ect, out of warranty anymore...

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

If you can get a unit that works on the NEW Freon - R410A then your in like Flynn....
you can buy that stuff your self

if you get a free standing unit, make sure it has 2 hoses......
for intake and exhaust separate, the single hose unit is CRAP !!

If you get R22 unit...you are hosed, BIG time min $100 per pound for certified a/c guy to recharge for you


http://overthetopcargotrailer.blogspot.com/

[Lotsa_cold_beer]

First time poster, long time lurker. I used a 5000btu window a/c unit mounted in a plywood box that sits over a hole in cut in the floor of my 7x16. The plywood box has a board running at 45 degrees inside it that kicks the hot air out the bottom of the trailer when it blows against it. The box needs to be insulated, but it seems to work pretty well.

[Pyrofish]

I bought an 8 year old rooftop unit for my hauler and thought it was great once I figured out that I needed additional parts. It was great, until I made my first trip in August. It had run great for a month and took the edge off of working inside it in the summer. After a single 6 hour ride to my camp site, it blew nothing but hot air... Fortunately, our host for the event used to do AC work. He got up there and checked it out... cracks in the coil and in the copper lines. I was exceedingly fortunate that our host was a pretty good friend. He brought out a jug of 22, soldered the crack, installed a valve, and filled it up. Voila, cold air.

It has survived 2 more 6 hour trips since, but I am just waiting for it to die. He told me he sees that all the time in the rooftop units. To save money, everything is thinner and thinner. They're just not meant to last any more. I mentioned maybe going to a window unit, and he said "Same difference, just easier to find a new one when it dies..."

I'll stick with the roof mount on this buggy, since I've spent so much time making it work where it is. On a new one, I might have to consider a window unit on a drawer slide with a hatch for when we're moving. Then again, I might still go with the roof mount for one time set up...

[Wolfscout]

I had a 5000 in my Cargo trailer that did well. Well ... until I knocked a whole in the copper lines in a place that I couldn't get to to fix.

I got a portable 12,000 that I exited through the floor. It cooled the camper nicely enough to suit me. If the trailer is insulated enough all around, and the roof is coated properly, it's all good.

[Pyrofish]

I had a 5000 in my Cargo trailer that did well. Well ... until I knocked a whole in the copper lines in a place that I couldn't get to to fix.

I got a portable 12,000 that I exited through the floor. It cooled the camper nicely enough to suit me. If the trailer is insulated enough all around, and the roof is coated properly, it's all good.

That kind of depends on where you are. Florida, August, midday... you want to escape the heat for a minute, a nice cool tin box is the ticket. For that, you need Powuh!

[Glenlivet]

Air conditioners... Home units (love the term 'window shakers' ) puzzle me. Most of the available models have come down so far in price that $200-$300 will buy a good one and on sale they can be much less... yet they are made for vertical sliding wood frame windows, a style that's a good 60+ years out of date! The ones for the much more common horizontal sliding windows are few and far between and usually only one middle powered unit will be in the offering lineup, at closer to $600.00.

Why should the same air conditioner for a side sliding window cost at least twice as much as one of the much more commonly found vertical sliding window A/C's, and stay that way year after year? Is it really that much more challenging to build an A/C that's taller and narrower, with a vertical bellows to fill the remaining space?
Then comes R/V A/C's and if you're looking at a 9000 BTU or so unit then you're looking at $800-$900.00 with shroud for a Coleman Polar Cub!

If there are half a dozen companies minimum who can make money cranking out $200.00 window shakers of around 8000 BTU then surely there's a market sufficient to support one or more of them to make a line of 14" roof vent A/C's of that capacity and flog them for around $300.00 and make bank!

[Pyrofish]

The unit I have is a 13500 Dometic. You can find these at $500 delivered with the shroud, but without the controls. The controls and interior venting etc depend on how you want your laid out. I spent another $100 on the ceiling register and the analog thermostat to put on the wall. If I ever need to replace the roof unit, that's all I need to buy. The interior stuff stays the same. Just plug int the new wires, tighten 4 bolts and awaaaay weee go!

[EvenOlder]

Pyrofish,
As a fellow floridian planning my trailer out (Thanks for your input on my thread):
Would you purchase the Dometic unit again? I'm having a hard time planning out a false back wall for a window unit that isn't blowing right into a bunk bed.
Thanks,
steve